Tag Archives: environment

Lambeth gives the go-ahead for new “rain” gardens on Myatt’s South estate

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Following lobbying from local councillors, Lambeth Council has given the green light for two sustainable drainage (SUDs) gardens, aimed at reducing flooding by planting water retaining plants and surfaces, on the Myatt’s South estate.

Cllr Paul Gadsby pressed for an update on plans for the SUDs on the estate at a recent meeting of Lambeth Council, while highlighting the impact of Tory cuts on the local authorities budget. In response, Cabinet Member for Sustainable Lambeth and Clean Air, Councillor Rezina Chowdhury, said:

” You are right (Cllr Gadsby) to highlight the government’s woeful record on funding for adaptation to climate change. It is left to local authorities to bid for little pots of funding and lobby Thames Water to deliver work that we know to be essential as we continue to break temperature records.”

“However, we are determined to deliver for and with our residents, and Myatts Fields estate is an excellent example of this. We have commissioned construction of the rain gardens at Myatt’s Fields, scheduling this around ongoing deep retrofit work to properties on the estate, which temporarily requires the green space where the SuDS will be positioned. The SuDS works are now scheduled to be implemented in Spring 24.”

“We liaised with the local resident association and those living directly adjacent to the proposed scheme location at St Lawrence Way. We have updated the design to reflect resident input. The rain garden will be set back further from the property boundaries and will also take on a more natural shape and form. The engagement process has enabled us to develop a more aesthetically pleasing scheme. The local resident association has supported us to develop the Lord Holland’s Way rain gardens. We will soon liaise with residents to go through in detail the works involved and how they will be affected.”

Local councillors Paul Gadsby and Annie Gallop have both welcomed the new investment on the estate, saying:

“It is fantastic news that the Myatt’s South estate will benefit from this investment into two rain gardens: we will continue to press for more across Myatt’s Fields.”

Free Christmas Tree recycling service during January

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Lambeth Council is offering a free Christmas Tree recycling service during January for any resident in the borough.

Full details of the service are below:

Seven new Electrical Vehicle Charging Points unveiled for Myatt’s Fields

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Lambeth Council have begun installing seven new electrical vehicle charging points (EVCPs) across Myatt’s Fields as part of a programme that will see 116 installed throughout the borough.

The new charging points will come with a dedicated parking space. Five EVCPs were installed in our community last year. This new programme will result in more than 300 EVCPs being operational throughout Lambeth.

Cllr Paul Gadsby and Cllr Annie Gallop, local Myatt’s Fields Councillors, said:

“We are delighted that more EVCPs are being installed in Myatt’s Fields, and more widely in the borough, as there is clearly rising demand for these charging points as more residents switch to electric vehicles. This also forms part of a growing, greener form of transport infrastructure in our area; following our lobbying, increasing numbers of cycle storage units are being installed.

“While these new installations are good news, we will continue to push for even more in the years ahead.”

The new points are being installed at these locations:

Vassall Road, outside number 102

Paulet Road, outside number 210

Akerman Road, outside number 48

Mostyn Road, outside number 7

Upstall Street, outside number 16

Burton Road, outside number 15

Normandy Road, near the blue plaque to Cherry Groce

New rain garden plans for the the Myatt’s South estate – drop in to give your views!

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Lambeth Council will be hosting a drop in event on the Myatt’s South estate where residents can give their views about proposals for a new rain garden near St Lawrence Way and Lord Holland Lane.

The proposals are part of a sustainable drainage programme being rolled out across the borough, in partnership with Thames Water. This aims to relieve pressure on ageing sewage system locally by mimicking natural drainage features including trees and wetland areas. Proposals for Myatt’s South include new rain gardens, with a pop up event being held to let resident’s give their feedback about the plans. Details of the drop in are:

When: Tuesday 25 July 2023

Where: St Lawrence Way

(near the ping pong court)

What time: 11am to 7pm

If you are unable to make this date, but would like to know more about these works or the larger programme, please contact:

sustainability@lambeth.gov.uk or visit www.lambeth.gov.uk/soakuplambeth

Work begins on new “healthy route” on Loughborough Road

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Lambeth Council has started work on a series of major upgrades to sections of Loughborough Road as part of a new £1.4 million “Healthy Route” programme.

Improvements are being carried out on an area which stretches from Loughborough Road South, between Ridgway Road and the Fiveways junction, and leads directly into key roads into Myatt’s Fields, including Lilford Road, Akerman Road and Loughborough Road North. .

Lambeth Council says The Healthy Routes project aims to “create a safe, accessible and pleasant route for people who are walking, cycling and using the bus”. This is the first phase of improvements as part of the Loughborough Road route. It involves the creation of:

  • Improved, new cycle lanes
  • Raised bus stops
  • Traffic calming measures
  • New pedestrian crossings
  • New planted areas to reduce the risk of local flooding

This part of Loughborough Road is receiving the improvements following a consultation with local residents, and because the wider Loughborough Junction neighbourhood suffers from particularly poor local air quality; the surrounding streets are in the top 20 per cent for N02 and particulate matter pollution across London.

Talking about the investment, Cllr Rezina Choudhary, Deputy Leader of Lambeth Council, said:

“We want to bring fairness to our neighbourhoods, reducing high air pollution which impacts most of those with least, help people embrace the opportunity to be healthier by walking or cycling and ensure they can make the trips they need to by better supporting local bus services.

“Lambeth Council is a leading local authority when it comes doing it all it can to make its neighbourhoods fairer and fit for the future, with a big transformation programme underway. Projects such as this support that aim and contribute to our Net Zero by 2030 ambitions.”

Myatt’s Fields councillors are lobbying for further traffic-related funding to be directed at Loughborough Road North which is beset by high levels of congestion and problems caused by traffic. Recently, Lambeth Council announced a substantial funding package for the ward after a campaign by Cllr Paul Gadsby and Cllr Annie Gallop to reduce speeding and make local streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists, as well as cut levels of pollution.

Works on the road, which began in June, are expected to continue until 30 November, with the P5 bus diverted until the end of August. Please see the below letter from Lambeth with details of these diversions.

Do you have an idea for a “parklet” in Myatt’s Fields?

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Roaside parking spaces in Myatt’s Fields are set to be handed over to residents to be converted into an outdoor community area.

Local neighbourhoods are being asked for their ideas to make streets greener and cleaner as part of Lambeth council’s new ‘parklet’ programme, supported by the Big Shift development fund.

Parklets are car parking bays that are repurposed to become public spaces that can be enjoyed by everyone. Each Ward in the Borough will get one, including Myatt’s Fields.

Residents can submit their designs for their own local community parklet, which they would help to maintain. They could include creating new social spaces with tables and seating, extra cycle storage or new green space. Residents are also being asked to nominate areas where they would like to see a parklet.

Cllr Rezina Chowdhury, cabinet member for Sustainable Lambeth and Clean Air, said:

“Parklets are a great way to create spaces where people can meet, socialise, and make neighbourhoods more pleasant by increasing greenery.

“Parklets can play a huge role in bringing people together whether it’s to sit down and have a chat or work together to tend new community gardens.

“We want as many local people as possible to tell us why their areas could benefit from new public space.”

Local councillors Paul Gadsby and Annie Gallop said:

“Myatt’s Fields has a rich history of the community driving forward gardening, bio-diversity projects and green space improvements. Across our neighbourhood we have many parks, allotments, planters and gardens that are there because local people care and invest in them – with Myatt’s Fields Park being a particularly shining example.

“With residents’ support we have helped to secure funding and support for a number of projects, including for a rewilding project on the Knatchbull Road roundabout, a new sustainable drainage scheme on Myatt’s Fields South and a tree planting programme that is particularly focused on our estates.

“We encourage residents to come forward with ideas and suggestions for the parklet project: in 2021 we successfully lobbied the Council to refurbish the Cowley Road and Vassall Road junction with new cycle paths, green planters and level accessways. This is the kind of seemingly small scale transformation that can make a real difference to the local area. So, please get your ideas in to the Council!”

Find out more about the Community Parklet Scheme and submit your designs before the deadline on May 28.

Councillors to demand substantial changes to plans for new development at Lilford Road business centre

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Substantial changes to controversial plans to redevelop an industrial site in Myatt’s Fields are being demanded by our local Labour councillors.

The old Lilford Road Business Centre has been the subject of plans for redevelopment from a company, AG Bloom.

While welcoming the idea of bringing new jobs to the area and creating a fresh start for the dilapidated buildings at the business centre, local councillors have been concerned that the proposals to let 24 hour delivery vehicles move to and from the site could result in a huge increase in traffic in the heart of a residential area that Lambeth Council has itself acknowledged is a congestion and pollution hotspot.

The developer has already been forced to make significant changes following a campaign by councillors and local residents.

The threat of a high-intensity food delivery service – condemned as “madness”– has already been headed off. The developer has submitted a revised application that bars these so called dark kitchen outfits from operating out of the new commercial units, and restricts delivery times to 7am to 11pm – a significant change to the original proposals which would have allowed 24-hour weekday deliveries.

But Councillors Gadsby and Gallop say the compromises don’t go far enough and will press their case at next week’s Lambeth Council Planning Committee meeting.

They want further assurances that businesses which move into the Lilford Road Business Centre won’t damage the local environment or leave the local community with a nightmare of high traffic and pollution. They insist that operational hours should be restricted further. They will also urge the council to ensure that landscaping and greening plans are part of the development.

The councillors said:

“It is encouraging that the developer has moved some way to addressing the concerns of residents and local councillors. As we have said during our initial comments on these proposals, we do believe it would be madness to have a high intensity delivery service in the heart of a residential area that Lambeth itself has acknowledged is a hotspot for traffic problems. The borough has committed to spend significant public funds to address the current issues around Lilford Road, Loughborough Road and Myatt’s Fields park and we are extremely concerned these proposals will work against these plans.

“We will be attending the Lambeth planning committee meeting on Tuesday, 9 May to ask for further restrictions on delivery hours from the site. There are other improvements we would like to see, including more effort from the developer to work with local community groups to enhance the landscaping and greening plans attached to the development.”

The Lambeth planning committee will be taking place on Tuesday, 9 May from 7pm: the agenda for the meeting is here.

Bees Road planting event on the Myatt’s South estate!

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Lambeth Council and the Friends of Myatt’s South will be hosting a seed planting event on Saturday, 22 April (11am-1pm) as part of the borough’s Bee’s Road initiative.

Supported by the Mayor of London, Lambeth was awarded £440,000 as part of Sadiq Khan’s rewilding initiative last year, with this investment aimed at providing additional funding for the Council’s Bee Roads initiative. This ambitious programme is aimed at converting ten miles of roadside land, including roundabouts and verges of roads, into wildflower mini-meadows which will provide habitats for wildlife including butterflies, bumble-bees and other pollinators.

Full details of the event are below – all residents welcome!

New action by Lambeth Council to address traffic chaos on Cranmer Road

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Mounting traffic chaos in and around Cranmer Road is being tackled following action by Myatt’s Fields Labour councillors.

Local residents have complained that the area is often jammed with commercial vehicles, making life difficult for residents and harming the environment.

Lambeth Council has begun implementing a raft of new actions on the road.

Cllr Paul Gadsby outlined the local community’s frustrations at January’s public Lambeth Council meeting, explaining that residents were suffering from unacceptable levels of noise, congestion and pollution on the road.

He claimed this was caused by delivery drivers on motorbikes from takeaway and grocery firms Just Eat and Gorillas who were clogging the narrow street, operating early in the morning and late at night, and parking their motorbikes on pavements.

The lobbying by councillors led to a walkabout on the road with Cllr Gadsby, residents who live on the nearby Holland Town estate (including the estate’s resident association chairwoman) and Cllr Rezina Choudhary, the cabinet member with responsibility for transport. The visit demonstrated first hand the negative impact of these problems on the daily lives of residents throughout the area.

Following the visit, Lambeth Council confirmed:

  • Enforcement officers from Lambeth are now regularly patrolling the area and issuing fines to drivers.
  • The Council has formerly written to Just Eat and Gorillas raising resident concerns, as well as threatening further enforcement action.
  • The Council’s officers will be visiting the local delivery hubs of both companies to ensure drivers are being provided with proper respite and rest spaces.

Local councillors have also delivered a leaflet to Cranmer Road – and during a recent roving surgery to nearby Foxley Road – advising residents on how they can report traffic idling and other offences in the area. You can read the newsletter here.

Local Councillors Paul Gadsby and Annie Gallop said:

“It is positive that the Council has taken action which does appear to have reduced some of the problems which have been making the lives of residents on Cranmer Road and surrounding local streets. It is however early days and we want to see a long term reduction in the problems that have been making everyone’s lives a misery on these streets.”

“We are disappointed that both delivery companies allowed the situation to get to this stage and for repeatedly ignoring residents when these issues were raised with them. We will continue to monitor the situation and would urge residents to report any instances of traffic idling to the Council. Thank you to everyone in the area who brought this to our attention.”

Myatt’s Fields communities to benefit from Lambeth’s tree-planting promise

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Local estates in Myatt’s Fields will be among the first to benefit from Lambeth’s promise to plant thousands of trees across the Borough

Lambeth Labour have committed to plant more than 5,000 trees to enhance our communities and help address the climate emergency.

The ward’s Labour councillors have welcomed the initiative and pledged to lobby for more planting in the area.

New trees will appear on the Cowley estate, at locations including near Lauderdale and Garlinge Houses. Other sites include:

  • Myatt’s Fields South estate
  • Vassall Road
  • Penford Road
  • Templar Street
  • Tindall Street
  • Halsmere Road

Two new trees will also be planted in Myatt’s Fields Park.

Local Councillors Paul Gadsby and Annie Gallop said:

“We are delighted that twenty one new trees will be planted in Myatt’s Fields: new landscaping and green planting really helps enhance our local community, and, of course, plays its part in addressing the climate change emergency.”

“We are particularly pleased these tree planting plans come hot on the heels of other positive environmental announcements, including the Bees Road plan for the Knatchbull roundabout and the sustainable drainage scheme for Myatt’s South estate.”

“We will keep lobbying for further tree planting across our area in the years to come.”

Councillors Paul Gadsby and Annie Gallop